Regulator recommends Ministry grants electric company a telecoms licence

Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Cofetel) has approved a request by state-run power company Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) to provide ‘carriers’ carrier’ wholesale communications services via power line communications (PLC), according to Dow Jones Newswires. The decision to grant CFE a services licence now rests with the communications ministry, the Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT). CFE applied for permission to utilise its extensive power line infrastructure for telecoms services in November 2005. It is currently trialling IP-based voice, data and internet services via PLC in Monterrey in conjunction with telcos Alestra and Axtel. It intends to launch commercial services over an 6,187km network covering an initial 27 cities in its first year, before expanding coverage to 44 cities in year-two.